


Mage: Chapter 17- A Troubling Trend

by 50Funny



Series: Mage [17]
Category: Original Work
Genre: 50Funny, Mage, Magic, Magical, Original Story - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-21
Updated: 2019-06-21
Packaged: 2020-05-15 21:02:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,416
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19303792
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/50Funny/pseuds/50Funny





	Mage: Chapter 17- A Troubling Trend

Part 1- The Numbers  
A loud, high pitched scraping noise sounded out through the board room as 9 pulled out his chair. He slumped himself lazily down into the seat.  
“So what’s this all about then?” 9 asked as he looked around the round table.  
Sitting around the table were nine seats with a number from one to ten skipping six labelling each. On the opposite side of the table were 3, 4, 5 and 7 sitting in their labelled seats.  
“You can wait till we’re all here, it's regulation,” stated 5.  
“Oh come on you don’t have to be such a stickler,” 4 said.  
“We have rules for a reason,” 5 insisted. “Besides it’s not my fault everyone is always late.”  
The double door leading into the board room began to creak open. 8 strode into the room making a line for her seat stretching her arms out above her head as she did.  
“Morning everyone,” 8 yawned.  
“You’re late,” 5 hissed.  
“Don’t blame me. Do you know how long it took to find all the stragglers in that maze?” 8 groaned as she took her seat. “Plus it’s no cake walk getting big stuff back there out of bed,” she continued as she gestured back to the door.  
The ground began to shake slightly as a loud stomping sounded out from down the hallway. Into the room entered an enormous man wearing a t-shirt and shorts, his oversized belly poking out from underneath his top. He was pale and had a sunken expression on his face, letting out a pained groan as he walked into the room.  
“How you feeling 10?” asked 3.  
“Ughhhhh,” 10 groaned, holding his bloated stomach as he walked towards his seat.  
“I think he’s still sick from whatever it was he ate before the test began,” 8 explained.  
Everyone in the room shifted their eyes to 9 with an accusatory stare.  
“Hey don’t blame me. It’s not my fault he’s a party animal,” 9 defended.  
10 sat down next to 9, shaking the ground as he impacted the chair. 9 looked across to his friend sitting next to him, placing his hand on his back.  
“How you been buddy, you down for some more fun tonight?” 9 asked.  
10 retched as he remembered his last night out, quickly raising his hand to cover his mouth. 8 looked across to 5 sitting on the opposite side of the table.  
“So what’s this meeting about anyway?” asked 8.  
“You’re wasting your time, she’s not gonna tell us anything till her little crush gets here,” 4 chimed in.  
5 turned her head to 4, staring daggers into him.  
“I don’t have a crush on anybody. It’s just standard procedures to wait until all members have arriv…”  
“Hey look, 2’s here,” 3 interrupted.  
5’s demeanor quickly changed as she turned to face the door. An enormous smile spread itself across her face.  
“2, it’s great to see you. It’s been too long. I hope you’ve been doing well,” 5 stammered in as sweet a tone as she could manage.  
Her eyes focused on the doors quickly realising that no one had entered the room. 3,4 and 8 cackled childishly amongst themselves as 5 sat in her embarrassment.  
“Haha sure, you don’t have a crush… I believe you,” 8 giggled sarcastically.  
“Who’s a good teachers' pet?” 3 teased.  
5 turned her head to face the group, her eyebrows angled in rage as her cheeks turned a deep red. She lunged towards the group fist first. The trio ran away from 5 as fast as they could around the table, still laughing amongst themselves.  
“Argh, why do you all have to be so annoying!” 5 yelled.  
“5 loves 2, 5 loves 2,” 3,4 and 8 chanted in unison.  
The clacking of heels on the wooden floor began to emanate from down the hall leading to the room. 5 continued to chase the group around the room in a psychotic rage as the door leading to board room creaked open. From behind the door entered a lady in a crisp, well-fitting suit and tie, writing on a clipboard with a ballpoint pen. The woman was followed behind by a similarly dressed man with thick glasses and bright orange hair. 4 looked over to the woman as she continued to stride into the room.  
“Hey look, 2 here!” 4 exclaimed.  
“Yeah right, like I’d fall for the one again!” yelled 5.  
“Fall for what again?” 2 said.  
5 stopped dead in her tracks and slowly turned around to face 2. Her cheeks turned an even deeper red as she began to shake with embarrassment.  
“Oh…2… h…how are you?” 5 stammered nervously.  
“Shall I even ask what was going on in here?” asked 2.  
“I was… I mean… We were just.”  
“We were talking about 5’s little crus…” 4 blurted out.  
“Nothing… we were doing nothing!” 5 yelled as loud as she could, covering 4's mouth with her hands.  
“Very well then, shall we proceed,” 2 said taking her seat.  
2 held the clipboard out behind her. The man took the clipboard from 2, bowing his head down before turning to leave the room.  
Part 2- A Troubling Trend  
5 stood up in front of the rest of the Numbers by a large whiteboard.  
“Now we should begin. As I’m sure you know, one of the most important parts of a Guild’s functions are the jobs that we receive on a daily basis,” 5 explained. “When a job is submitted to our Guild, it is posted on the Guild board for all our mages to see with a monetary reward for its completion. Once a mage accepts and completes the job they receive whatever reward was on offer, minus the twenty percent cut we take. While most jobs and quests are submitted by regular citizens and private businesses, the most important jobs for a Guild are those submitted by government bodies. These government tasks offer up the highest monetary rewards and thus a greater cut for us.”  
“Yeah yeah, we all already know all that. What’s your point?” 4 said dismissively.  
“My point is that over the past few years the numbers of government jobs have been slowly getting less and less,” 5 stated. “Three years ago we received thirty of these high paying jobs, a fairly standard amount for a Guild of our size. The following year we received only twenty-four, then last year hit an all-time low at only thirteen. And as of June this year…” 5 took a brief pause. “We’ve received only six government sanctioned jobs.”  
The Numbers all looked at 5, finally understanding her concern.  
“Without these high paying jobs, we may find ourselves running out of the money to pay for the Guild's expenses. On top of that, I’m sure many of our other members have noticed the same trend. They’re not saying anything yet, but when they start to notice their wallets lightening, you can bet will have a riot on our hand,” explained 5.  
“So what? Have we done something to upset whoever is handing out jobs for the government?” asked 8.  
“No, I’ve checked around and it would appear that most other high ranking Guilds are experiencing a similar problem.”  
“Well, if we’re not doing anything wrong then how are we meant to fix it?” 4 blurted out.  
“Surely, this is a good thing? We live in a time of peace without much to complain about. Can’t we just be happy about that?” 7 said nervously.  
“If you think this is happening because we live in a time of peace then your sadly mistaken,” 3 chimed in.  
Everyone in the room shifted their gaze across to 3, beckoning for him to explain himself. A cocky smile drifted across 3’s face.  
“See it, does pay to know your history,” 3 stated. “This sort of thing has happened many times before, much before our Guild was even formed. However the last time…” he paused for a brief moment, “was just before the last Lemian conflict.”  
The rest of the Numbers listened on with sudden horror as the gravity of the situation struck them.  
“When the government realised that war with Lemia was inevitable, they started hoarding all the wealth and resources they could buy, cutting off all unnecessary expenditure. One of the many things to be cut off was the hiring of mages.”  
“Hang on a second. Are you saying that another Lemian conflict is coming?” asked 9.  
“Well not necessarily. But I’d say it’s fairly safe to say…” 3 took a brief pause, “something big is on the horizon.”  
An uneasy silence settled on the group as they sat contemplating the consequences of what had been said.  
“Well… that certainly is a concerning thought, but I must admit I fail to see why this meeting was so urgent. Surely this could have waited until after the Guild test was done with,” said 2.  
5 nodded as she looked back over the group.  
“Yes, let’s get back on track,” she said. “With the job shortage being as bad as it is, I don’t believe it would be wise to add to many new members to our Guild. I’ve been watching the remaining twelve rather closely and I truly believe that all of them have the potential to pass the final test as it currently stands. Adding twelve new members will only serve to exacerbate the problems we’re already facing… ”  
“Ahhhh I see,” 2 interrupted. “So you want me to change the parameters of the final test so less of them pass. That’s fine by me, so how many of them shall I let get through?”  
5 looked down, holding her chin in thought.  
“If I’m correct, at most we should be able to handle six new members,” stated 5.  
“Ha… ok then,” 2 replied as she stood up out of her chair, a smile stretching across her face. “I’ll narrow them down to three.”  
2 turned around and began walking towards the door. She reached her hand out to the handle and began to turn it. She stopped for a moment before turning her head back to face the rest of the group.  
“Oh right, I almost forgot,” said 2. “I’ve been pretty busy over the last few days so I haven’t had the chance to watch the contestants very closely. You’ve all spent much more time with them than me so I wanted to get your opinion on who deserves to win the most?”  
There was a silence over the group as they thought, for a moment, of the events of the preceding days. 3 looked across to 2.  
“If I might, I’d like to abstain. My third eye has already seen everything that’s coming and it would be no fun if I spoiled it now.” 3 said.  
“Why do you have to be such a pain, can’t you just answer the question,” 5 hissed.  
“5, please its fine. If 3 doesn’t wish to participate then there’s no need to force him,” 2 intervened.  
3 sat clearly enjoying the mischief he had caused. 4 raised up his head as he finished formulating his answer.  
“For my money, I’d say that guy with the boxing gloves or the one with the weird familiar. They were the only ones that even came close to beating me which shows they’ve at least got a little bit of strength,” said 4.  
“As I said before I think all of them have the potential to join our Guild. The only one I wouldn’t want passing is the one with the fire powers. He gives me creepy vibes and I don’t think he’d be a good fit for our Guild,” 5 explained.  
7 looked down to the ground nervously as he realised his turn had come.  
“Well… um… I don’t know. Cecilia seems nice I suppose, I talked with her on the train ride here. Her power is pretty unique and could prove useful if she hones her skills enough,” mumbled 7.  
2 looked across the room to 7.  
“If I may, could we please get 6’s opinions as well? He is part of the Guild to after all,” 2 asked.  
“Oh… well umm… yes. I… I guess that’s fair,” 7 mumbled as stuttered looking down to the ground nervously.  
7 began to shake and trimmer, his body letting out a series of inhuman cracks and breaks. His skin began to turn a pale grey colour. He let out a low pitched moan as a pointy grey horn began to grow out of his skull. His face began to distort into a psychotic smile as his eyes sunk back into his head.  
“Well well, am I being summoned, this is certainly a surprise,” 6 groaned in an inhuman tone.  
“Freak,” 4 mumbled under his breath avoid eye contact with the creature.  
“That guy with the fire would be my bet, he’s got the eyes of a killer, I like that,” continued 6.  
“Thank you very much 6. Now if you would please go away,” 2 stated sternly.  
6 looked across the room to 2, his smile fading away into an eerie scowl.  
“Whatever you say, but remember the second you wanna get rid of this weakling I’ll be waiting,”  
6 began to once again shake and trimmer as the horn began to retract and his skin returned to a normal colour. 7 opened up his eyes looking out across the room awkwardly.  
“Oh umm… I… I’m terribly sorry,” 7 stuttered.  
“If it were up to me that Alex kid would do more than just fail,” 8 said, breaking the awkwardness. “He has no respect for authority. As for who I want to win, Elmer would be my pick. I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him but it can always be useful to have a kiss ass around.”  
“I don’t really care who wins. They all seem too serious, no one I’d like to party with,” said 9.  
10 let out a long low pitched groan of pain as he grasped at his stomach. 2 looked across the rest of the group smiling pleasantly.  
“Thank you all. Well, I guess we should get on with it then.”  
2 turned around opening up the door. She walked out into the hallway followed shortly behind by her redheaded secretary. The clicker clacker of her heels got quieter and quieter as she walked off to begin the final stage of the test.


End file.
